HOW DO I DEAL WITH WORK ANXIETY?
COVID-19 has hit humanity badly, especially in terms of jobs. This has led to a lot of depression and generalized anxiety among people and the mental health of those already suffering has also gotten worse.
Job gives a sense of security, but we are surrounded by insecurities. What should we do about it? We can’t let it escalate. We can’t suppress it; we can’t sit idle. Then what can we do about it? We need to detach ourselves from the idea of counting our self-worth through a job. Just imagine a place where you have no luxuries or amenities and are given two options: to die or to survive. What will you choose? We have the survival instinct because we are human beings; we don’t want to die, even though we may have suicidal ideations or hopelessness.
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The following measures are suggested to deal with this kind of anxiety because even upgrading your skills or developing new skills during this period can be stressful:
- Sit down and relax—try to ground yourself in this very moment. You haven’t lost anything. It is just a matter of time. It is not your fault. Treat yourself with warmth and kindness at this time. You are not going to get benefits from feeling anxious and troubled.
- Meditate on the good things in life. Think about the previous achievements you have made in the past, wherein you were so patient and calm. Past victories are a reminder of how far we have come.
- Normalise the problem. Understand that unemployment is part and parcel of your life. Don’t keep holding on to the problem; otherwise, it will keep staying with you and do more harm than good.
- Bring the focus to yourself. Try to rejuvenate your hobbies.
- Develop a daily plan of action.
- Volunteer: Work to make yourself happy in this phase. E.g., volunteer for children, the underprivileged, etc. Spend time with these people, and you will find so much peace.
- Don’t stress too much about looking for new jobs.
- In case you don’t get responses from new recruiters, do not feel bad. Self-criticism is going to make the problem worse.
- Join a community. Don’t let yourself stay isolated. Join online or offline communities like professional organisations, political interest groups, environmental and spiritual groups, etc. Such communities broaden our horizons and give us a greater meaning of life.
- When you do the above activities, you will realise that you are much more than just a job. You are alive. You are a survivor. You are a person who can give hope to others by coming out of this problem.
